To his right, Elandra stood staring at him with her hands pressed to her mouth. Her eyes were huge with fear and something he could not identify.
Sien was huddled down, swearing to himself and clutching his hand. The skin was charred black, as though he had stuck it into a fire.
Regaining his wits, Caelan strode to the doorway and stepped through it. He paused there and glanced back at Elandra.
He reached out to her. “Come. Quickly.”
She hesitated, still staring at him as though he was a monster, but she came. Slowly at first, then running the last few steps. She clutched his hand, and he pulled her through the doorway.
The cavern rang with noise as men hurried about their tasks. There were fewer soldiers than Caelan had hoped to see. Too few, in fact, but at that moment he didn’t care.
Relieved, he smiled down at Elandra. The fear vanished from her eyes, and she smiled back. Then her smile faded, and she looked troubled again. She squeezed his hand. “Your sister—Lea—what Lord Sien said about her—”
“He was lying,” Caelan said, forcing his voice to be light. “Think no more about it.”
She searched his eyes. “Are you sure? I—”
“The empress!” someone shouted. “Look! It’s her Majesty. She’s alive!”
Elandra broke off what she’d been about to say and dropped Caelan’s hand. She frowned, looking flustered.
He bowed to her. “Go to your husband, Majesty. Let him know you are safely delivered.”
Several expressions flitted across her face. Finally she smiled again. “Thank you,” she said with heartfelt sincerity. “I shall never forget all you have done for me.”
Then she was gone, hurrying into the confusion only to be met by Sergeant Baiter, who saluted her with a beaming smile and led her toward the emperor’s banner.
Caelan watched her for a moment, filled with the bittersweet satisfaction of knowing this time he had done the right thing. He had not failed his true responsibilities.
“Caelan E’non.”
Startled, he turned and warily faced Sien. The priest stood on the other side of the doorway, gazing out at him.
Still nursing his burned hand, Sien looked wide-eyed and astonished. “You vanished,” he said. He reached out his hand, then drew it back without touching Caelan. “For an instant, as I was talking to you, you simply ceased to exist. Where did you go? How did you break the power of Beloth to stop the spell?”
Caelan stared hard at him without any emotion at all. “You have already taken all the answers you will ever get from me.”
Anger replaced the astonishment in Sien’s leathery face. “Impertinent fool! You are trampling on that which you do not understand. You—”
“She is out of your hands,” Caelan broke in. “Whatever meddling you wrought with Kostimon’s mind to make him forget her has ceased to work. She is back where she belongs, despite your plots, shadows, invaders, and spells.”
Fury twisted Sien’s face. He lifted his burned hand as though to hurl magic at Caelan. “Yo—”
Caelan sprang at him and gripped his injured hand, squeezing it with all his strength.
A strangled scream of agony burst from Sien. He crumpled at Caelan’s feet without resistance.
Caelan released him and stood glaring down at the man without any mercy. “Save your spells for the Madruns,” he said harshly. “Conceal this entrance once again, so that when they come at last to this cavern, they will never find it. Nor will they find the secret ways. Nor will they follow where Kostimon goes.”
Breathing hard, his eyes still slitted with pain, Sien glared up at him. “You dare order me?”
“I dare,” Caelan said coldly. “I could have taken your life as easily as I took away the spell. Remember that you called me a taker. Remember that you taunted me for enjoying what I do. Now consider our new bargain. You will conceal this cavern so that when the savages come, they will look but never see what lies here. Do it, or I swear I will destroy you.”
Hatred filled Sien’s face. “You cannot!” he boasted hoarsely. “Not while I serve the darkness.”
“Can you find the darkness now?” Caelan mocked him. “Can you feel it strong and powerful within you as it was a few moments before? While its connection to you is withered and damaged, you are merely a man. Nothing more.”
Sien’s scowl deepened. Finally, resentfully, he nodded. “Very well, I shall do as you say. I have enough strength left to cast the spell that you request. But this is not the last of us, Traulander. When I am once again fully rejoined with my master, I shall hunt you down. No matter how far you journey, I will find you. Remember that I have a piece of you. It will lead me to you, anywhere on this earth, or beyond it.”
Caelan listened to his threat without fear. He thought of that future encounter and knew he would welcome it. Right now, as much as he would like to finish Sien once and for all, he knew it was not the time. They needed Sien and his despicable dark magic to fool the Madruns searching for them.
Meeting Sien’s gaze, Caelan held it a long while, until the priest’s gaze dropped first. Color suffused Sien’s cheeks, and he started to say something else, but Caelan was finished with the man. It was time to seek out the emperor, time to rejoin his fellow guardsmen, time to resume his duty.
There was, after all, an empire to rebuild.
Turning his back on the defeated priest, Caelan walked away.
Table of Contents
Part One
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Part Two
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Shadow War Page 35